Speak Now
by Konsui's Little Brother
Summary: Raven wasn't the type of girl that normally barged into weddings, in fact, she did her best to avoid them. But she couldn't stay away from this one. It wasn't just her life depending on her speaking. Not this time.


A/N: Wow. This story was so much fun to write! I sat down while to do an English Essay on Animal Farm, this song came on Rapsody and my essay was practically forgotten.

I want to point out here that this story is slightly AU.

* * *

**I am not the kind of girl,  
Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil  
occasion,  
But you are not the kind of boy,  
Who should be marryin' the wrong girl,**

She never thought that she would ever be here, not after everything that had happened, but there wasn't anything else that she could do. Even if it didn't fit her, despite what others might have thought, this wasn't right.

It wasn't how this day should be happening.

Garfield wasn't the sort of boy that deserved to be marrying a girl like that. He was too good for her; too kind and too sweet and just too good for a girl like her.

He deserved to be with someone that loved him for who he was, not someone that wanted to change everything about him. Not someone like her.

**I sneak in and see your friends,  
And her snotty little family, all dressed in pastel,  
And she is yelling at a bridesmaid,  
Somewhere back inside a room,  
Wearing a gown shaped like a pastry,  
This is surely not what you thought it would be,  
I loose myself in a daydream,  
Where I stand and say:**

The others were already here, standing out in the lobby talking with each other like everything was normal. Like they didn't realize this was killing me, killing you, and bringing an end to everything that the Teen Titans stood for.

Her family, which shouldn't have been there because they were supposed to be dead, she'd said they were all dead, were scattered around the rooms as well. Fancy suits and pale pastels, pinks and blues and greens, that made them look like they were paler than even she was were all that they wore.

And it wasn't right.

Terra was in the back room, her long blonde hair pulled up high on her head, a look of fury on her face as she yelled at one of the bridesmaids. They'd done something wrong, some meaningless thing that shouldn't have mattered, and now her heart went out to the poor girl.

The dress she was wearing was beautiful. It was white and lace and looked just like it had come out of a fairy-tale. In fact, it was the same dress that she'd seen one day and had known, even though she never thought that day would ever come, that it was the dress she would be wearing if she ever got married.

And then she couldn't think of anything but...

**"Don't say yes, run away now,  
I'll meet you when you're out,  
Of the church at the back door,  
Don't wait or say a single vow,  
You need to hear me out,"  
And they said, "Speak now,"**

_(She doesn't love you. She doesn't care about you, not like I do. Not like I always have! You waited for me and just when I was ready __she__ came along and stole you away and it's not fair! Don't say anything, please don't say anything, I'm here and you just have to listen to me...)_

**Fun gestures are exchanged,  
And the organ starts to play  
A song that sounds like a death march,  
And I am hiding in the curtains,  
It seems I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be,  
She floats down the isle like a pageant queen,  
But I know you wish it was me,  
You wish it was me, don't you?**

The little snacks, ones that would never show up at their wedding because she knows Garfield hates them, are served. People talk. Everyone had fun, the others were talking and laughing and joking and she wasn't any where in sight.

And then the organ started to play, something else that she knew Garfield hated because it reminded him of a funeral, and all she could think of is that it wasn't their song. It didn't give her that feeling like she was flying, didn't seem happy, didn't fit him.

She stands behind a thick curtain, heavy red velvet that Terra had demanded and that must have cost almost as much as the ordoirves they were serving, because there was no where else for her to be.

The rest of the team had been invited. Beautiful hand-written invitations had arrived by mail months before the wedding. But they'd been written up by Terra and she'd never gotten one and Garfield must have thought that she just hadn't shown up...

Terra walks down the aisle then, that beautiful dress that fit her so horribly flowing behind her, and acting for the world like she had just won some marvelous prize. Her head was held up high and that little fake smile was plastered on her face.

It wasn't right and it wasn't fair.

That should have been her. It should have been her and she just knew, just like she knew that the smile wasn't real and niether was the love that was about to be proclaimed if she didn't do something, that Garfield wanted it to be her there.

At least, she thought she knew.

**Don't say yes, run away now,  
I'll meet you when you're out,  
Of the church at the back door,  
Don't wait or say a single vow,  
You need to hear me out,  
And they said, "Speak now,"**

_(Such an aweful wedding. Such an aweful sight. It's not right. I love him not her she's never loved him and she never will because everything about her is fake. Fake life, fake smile, fake family, it's fake fake fake!)_

**Don't say yes, run away now,  
I'll meet you when you're out,  
Of the church at the back door,  
Don't wait or say a single vow,  
Your time is running out,  
And they said, "Speak now,"**

_(But I can stop it! I'm not going to let you end up with some like her, someone that takes away everything that made you __you__, because you deserve so much better than her. I know it. You know it too. Don't you? Don't you?)_

**I hear the preacher say,  
"Speak now or forever hold your peace,"  
There's a silence, there's my last chance,  
I stand up with shaking hands,  
All eyes on me,  
Horrified looks from everyone in the room,  
But I'm only lookin' at you,**

The words that the preacher syas just blur together. It's not something that she wants to hear because she doesn't want to loose her nerve, doesn't want to turn tail and run because it's not just her life she's doing this for.

And then he speaks the words she's been waiting for, 'speak now or forever hold your peace', and it's like her whole body freezes up. This is it, this is it and she has to move but nothing wants to work!

The whole room is silent. Everyone was waiting for the preacher to speak again, to tell Garfield and Terra to say their vows and kiss and live happily ever after, because that was it was suppossed to go. No one else realizes that this is her, and his, last chance.

She walks out into the main-walk, the same one that Terra had walked up only minutes before, and takes a deep breath. Her hands are shaking but she can't get them to stop, can't get them to be still, and all she can do is clench them shut and hope that no one notices.

Everyone is staring at her now, not the cheesy bride-to-be in the front of the room, and she suddenly finds herself wishing that she was wearing something different. Her cloak, jeans, a jacket, a hood, anything but the dress that she'd pulled out of her closet.

_(I wore it on our first date and he told me I was beautiful no one ever told me I was beautiful or pretty or anything but the scum of the earth and I just wanted him to know that I __remeber!__)_

And she just had to block out the horrified looks everyone was sending her. She had to block out the whispers that had started out. Block out the fact that her stomache was churning and her hands were still shaking and she didn't know how much longer she could stand there. She just had to focus on him.

It was so natural.

**I am not the kind of girl,  
Who should be rudely bargin' in on a white veil  
occasion,  
But you are not the kind of boy,  
Who should be marryin' the wrong girl,**

"I don't really know why I'm here. This isn't the type of person I am, Garfield, and you know that. I do my best to stay away from weddings, let alone barge into one, but I had to be here. I had to tell you that you're not the type of boy who should be marrying the wrong kind of girl."

And her hands weren't shaking any more.

"She's not right for you! She's trying to change you into someone that you're not! And it's not right. It's-"

She had to stop and take a breath.

"It's not where you should be. It's not who you should be. You're funny and your caring and you hate fancy things like this! This whole wedding is filled with things that you hate. So you shouldn't be here."

**Don't say yes, run away now,  
I'll meet you when you're out,  
Of the church at the back door,  
Don't wait or say a single vow,  
You need to hear me out,  
And they said, "Speak now,"**

"Don't tell her yes, Garfield. Don't tell her that you'll be with her forever and that you love her and always will. Not when you don't. You're not a liar!"

She knew that she wasn't wrong.

"I'll meet you outside, Garfield. Out behind the church. I know you and I know what you like, what you love, and it's not her."

She was having a hard time breathing now.

"You don't have to say anything either. Just...Just please hear me out? Listen to what I said and to what I'm not saying. You know me, Garfield. You know that I wouldn't be here if I didn't love you."

She loved him more than anything and anyone.

Then the preacher was clearing his throat and telling Garfield that he should, 'speak now', and she felt her heart sinking. He wasn't looking at her anymore. His eyes were on the people in the audience, on the preacher, on Terra, on anyone but her.

**And you say,  
"Let's run away now,  
I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door,  
Baby, I didn't say my vows,  
So glad you were around when they said, "Speak now,"**

And then his clear green eyes, the eyes that she'd half-expected to be filled with anger and hate and ridicule, landed on her and she knew that everything would be fine.

"You're right."

And it took all of her strength to keep her legs from buckling in relief.

"Give me five minutes, and I'll meet you out there. Just let me toss this thing in the closet and grab my jeans."

He hadn't said anything and he'd listened and everything was going to be alright.

"I'm so glad you were here, Rachel. I'm so glad you were here."

And then he was in front of her, his arms were around her, and it didn't matter to her that everyone was still staring or that a light had just exploded near by.

It all made perfect sense then.


End file.
